Check out Gigantic Evil Sand Gollum and more from the Weston-super-Mare sand-sculpture festival

Every year since 2006, the British coastal town of Weston-super-Mare has hosted a sand-sculpting festival, which has steadily grown in size, scope, and ambition. It takes place this weekend, but the sculptors have been working on their projects for close to two weeks now. This year, the theme is Hollywood, which means giant sand Harry Potter, Batman, Yoda, E.T., Alfred Hitchcock, Captain Jack Sparrow, and a lot more intricately textured, ephemeral weirdness. Wondering how they’re made, how long they last, or what happens to them after the festival? The festival’s website has a FAQ covering the obvious questions. Images from this year’s fest are cropping up all over the Internet at this point—check out GlobalNews’ gallery, or the festival’s Twitter feed for lots more. Here are a few that have already made it online, courtesy of BBC reporter and Twitterer @AndyLHoward: